Stevens took a deep breath. “The US is reaching out to China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Roughly half the world’s population lives in those six countries. If India or China join the Citium, or even if a few smaller nations join, the die will be cast. They’ll have overwhelming numbers in a war.”

“We have superior weaponry,” a supervisor said.

“And very soon,” Stevens said, “we’ll have almost no one trained to use it.”

Millen knew where this was going. The other supervisors seemed to sense it too. They waited for Stevens to continue.

“As such, the White House has ordered the CDC and all agencies under the BioShield command to begin preparing for the possibility of a conventional war here on American soil.”

“Preparing how?” Millen asked.

“As we speak, BioShield forces are collecting individuals believed to have a high probability of surviving. Going forward, resources will be allocated only to these individuals.”

Millen couldn’t believe it. “And what about everyone else?”

Stevens stood staring at the shift supervisors. “This is the reality we face. If we can’t field an army, the United States will soon cease to exist. If we accept the cure, the United States will effectively be conquered by the Citium.”

Millen thought about his mother and father in Cleveland. He knew they were inside the cordon there. Neither was in a critical job role.

“What about our families?”

“They’re on the list. Everyone’s immediate family members—spouses and children, parents, siblings, and siblings’ spouses and children—are on the list.”

So they had thought of that too.

“What I just told you was very hard for me to hear an hour ago. I know it’s just as hard for you to hear now—and it will be even harder for you to explain it to the operators working under you. If you don’t think you can do that or carry out the orders that are about to be given to you, I need to know before you leave this room.”

A supervisor next to Millen asked what would happen to their families if they refused.

“If you leave the BioShield command structure, their status will revert to whatever it would have been.”

The supervisors sat in shock.

“I hope our intelligence agencies find where the Citium has stored the cure,” Stevens said. “In the meantime, we all have our orders. Survival sometimes requires us to do things we don’t want to do.”

When the meeting broke, Millen assembled his team of operators and began their pre-shift meeting. He didn’t like what he was about to say, but he also didn’t see any other alternative. He had to remain with BioShield—for his parents’ sake, and for Halima and Tian.